About FON

In 2019 France has set up a Fund to Support Feminist Organisations – FSOF in its French acronym – intended to support the activities of feminist movements in the world, in particular those of the local civil society organisations working in favour of gender equality, women’s and girl’s rights and gender challenges.


The objective of FON is to build the capacity of women's movements, via sub-grants and organizational development support, especially for small organizations, often non-registered, to address and respond to gender-based violence.

The FSOF is part of the feminist French diplomacy and of the International Strategy of France for gender equality. It is managed by the French Ministry of Europe and External Affairs (MEAE) and the French Development Agency (AFD). Within this framework, AFD announced during the 2020 summer, a call for expression of interest to financially support feminist civil society organisations (CSO) working in developing countries in Africa, Middle East, Asia or Latin America.

The Project will be deployed in 10 countries: Africa (6): Burkina Faso, Guinea, Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Kenya. Latin America (2): Mexico and Colombia. Asia (2): Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

The Call for expression of interest targeted:

This project, called « Feminist Opportunities Now » was signed between the consortium members, AFD and the MEAE on May 31st2022, for 4 years (from 31st of May 2022 to 30th September 2026).

For a world free of Gender-Based violence

At Feminist Opportunities Now (FON), we believe in a world where gender equality isn't just a dream but a reality. We're here to break barriers, support resilience, and empower feminist organizations. Join us in our mission to create a more inclusive and equitable world.

  • Our Vision

    Reduce the incidence of gender-based violence (GBV) to accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 5 and achieve gender equality.

  • Our Mission

    Feminist civil society organisations (CSOs) have an essential role to play in tackling the many issues at stake in order to help reduce gender inequality and the violence that stems from it. Most CSOs are nascent or relatively new, many are unregistered, and face challenges that limit their ability to reduce GBV and protect and promote women's rights.

    The FON Project seeks to improve the sustainability of these feminist CSOs at the organisational and technical levels; to support the resilience and diversity of feminist CSOs through access to sustainable funding mechanisms that are flexible and adapted to small and/or informal and/or marginalised CSOs; and to strengthen a networked movement of feminist CSOs in Southern countries, linking these CSOs with national, regional and international networks, in order to make their voices heard on the public stage.

5 partners, 1 mission

Feminists Opportunities Now is a group of organisations determined to eradicate Gender-Based Violence by funding and accompanying grassroot Civil-Society Organizations who champion the cause. The consortium in charge of implementing the Project is composed of 2 NGOs based in France, 2 federations (one based in France, and one based in Africa) and 1 INGO based in India/USA.

With support of The Agence Française De Développement

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) funds, supports and accelerates the transitions to a fairer and more sustainable world. Focusing on climate, biodiversity, peace, education, urban development, health and governance, our teams carry out more than 4,200 projects in France’s overseas departments and territories and another 150 countries. In this way, we contribute to the commitment of France and French people to support the sustainable development goals.

Our expert team

Meet the team behind
FON

Alejandra Garcia Paton

Global FON Programme Manager

Aminata Ba

Africa FON Programme Manager

Wanjiru Wairimu

East Africa FON Programme Manager

Jessica Michel

FON Project Manager

Alice Bordaçarre

Head of the Women's rights & gender equality Desk

Ana Verdu De Bejar

FON Project Manager for Latin America

Carolina Manrique Amorocho

FON Project Manager for Colombia

Gayathri Gamage

Asia FON Program Manager

Saeda Bilkis Bani

Asia FON Program Manager